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Wednesday, August 29, 2018

Behind the veil

“The Place of the Lion” is definitely the strangest
novel I've ever read. But then, I admit that I don't usually read novels.
Unless they are pretty strange, that is. ;-)

Charles Williams belonged to The Inklings, together with C. S. Lewis, Owen
Barfield and J. R. R. Tolkien. He was a university lecturer, and a prolific
writer of novels, poetry and works of Christian theology. Williams'
Christianity was pretty non-traditional, however, probably being inspired by A.
E. Waite's esoteric-mystical Rosicrucian order (a split from the Golden Dawn).
An analysis of certain aspects of Williams' religious message can be found in
R. J. Reilly's “Romantic Religion”, although Reilly attempts to minimize
Williams' connections to Waite and occultism, such things not being respectable
among the high society literati. Unfortunately, Reilly says very little about
“The Place of the Lion”, one of Williams' most well-known works of fiction,
first published in 1931.

The plot is set in a trivial small town somewhere outside London, Smetham,
which is suddenly invaded by supernatural creatures taking the form of animals.
The creatures turn out to be Platonic Forms running amuck, after a local
“spiritual teacher” has managed to pierce the veil between our world and the
divine or spiritual world. Unfortunately, he has contacted the Forms for
immoral and selfish reasons, wanting to tap their raw power. The “animals”
posses and destroy human beings as they invade the town, and also start to
destroy houses, telephone poles and the very ground itself, threatening a
veritable apocalypse. Some of the people overtaken by the supernatural beings
are “the usual suspects”. Thus, a certain Foster, who has always craved power,
gets precisely what he wants, being possessed by the heavenly archetype of a
lion. Of course, he gets mad in the process. Other possession scenarios are
more unexpected. Thus, one Mr Tighe, an obsessive butterfly collector, gets to
see the Platonic Form of Beauty in the form of a gigantic butterfly, only to
wither and die a few days later! What did he do wrong, I wonder? Eventually,
Smetham is saved by the hero, Anthony, who is voluntarily possessed by the
archetype of the eagle (also a symbol of the apostle John), re-enacts the drama
in the Garden of Eden when “the Adam” named the animals, and makes the
supernaturals go back to their own dimension of existence.

I'm not sure what the official interpretation of this tale might be, so I'm
offering my impressions for all they may be worth. Williams is sharply critical
of abstract, dead philosophy, represented in the novel by the cold-hearted
Damaris and her philosophical hero Abelard, the medieval rationalist. The
Platonic Forms aren't abstract first principles, but concrete personified
powers (one is almost tempted to say “of flesh and blood”). That they take
animal rather than human form simply makes them more terrifying, alive and
real. In some sense, the Forms are angels, suggesting that our material reality
was created by or through such personal powers. Williams is also against
impersonal mysticism, represented by Richardson, who voluntarily goes to his
self-destruction in the burning house lit by supernatural fires. I suppose the
poor amateur entomologist Mr Tighe is a symbol of unbalanced, obsessive
compulsion. Throughout the novel, Williams emphasizes the need for balance,
both in the human soul and in the universe (balance between being and becoming,
between the Lion and the Lamb, etc). Irrational fear of the unknown, or perhaps
of the supernatural, is another no-no (Quentin). And, of course, cultic craving
after power. Foster's sad fate reminds me of a quote from C. S. Lewis' “Mere
Christianity” (quoted from memory): “Don't worry, if you really want to meet
the Devil, you shall. If you will like him when you do, is another matter
entirely”.

Anthony, the saviour-figure, manages to save the world by his sense of balance,
his unselfish love for Damaris and his equally unselfish friendship with
Quentin. Anthony is the very opposite of a Randian hero, and (of course) the
Christian ideal Williams wants the reader to emulate. While never explicitly
comparing Anthony to Christ, it's certainly implied that he is sacrificing
himself to save the world (in the end, he remains unscathed). Note also his
re-enactment of Adam's behaviour before the Fall, and the entire Christian
scenario with Christ being the Second Adam, etc. In Williams' version, there is
also an “occult”, Kabbalistic aspect, since “the” Adam (Adam Kadmon?) is
hermaphroditic until being rendered in two, Adam and Eve. Williams considers
this as something positive, since Adam and Eve are supposed to unite in love.
Anthony is also the character who understands the personal, living nature of
the Platonic Forms faster than anyone else in Smetham.

I admit that my “spiritual search” have had certain similarities with the cold
intellect of Damaris and the weird obsession of her butterfly-collecting father.
Well, at least I don't want supernatural power for its own sake!

As a modern reader, I was struck by certain curious traits of Williams' novel.
The entire scenario of Anthony constantly courting the impossible Damaris (who
wants to become an independent woman!) will surely strike the reader as
anachronistic and somewhat patriarchal, but is to be expected of a novel
written in 1931 by a “Christian” author. More strange is that Anthony and
Damaris are cousins. Was cousin marriage socially acceptable in small town
England at this time? A more comic trait is the fact that Anthony and his best
friend Quentin share an apartment together. Today, people would assume they are
gay! A small detail, perhaps, but I couldn't help noticing it…

That being said, I nevertheless recommend “The Place of the Lion” to those
interested in the ideas of Charles Williams, or perhaps those searching for the
reality behind the veil…

Addendum. There seems to be some contention concerning different editions of
this work. This is a review of the 2003 Regent College Publishing edition, with
blurbs by J I Packer, TIME and...Owen Barfield.